1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to stackable bins for displaying generally cylindrical articles such as tubular containers of viscous material for sale to consumers. More particularly, the present invention relates to stackable bins having U-shaped interiors that are accessible through generally U-shaped front openings, with pivotal door assemblies being provided for that are removably connected to the bins for supporting signs that overlie the front openings of the bins to identify the contents of the bins, with the doors and the signs they carry preferably being transparent so that the contents of the bins can be viewed therethrough. Methods of displaying tubes of viscous material such as caulk and the like also form a part of the present invention, calling for the utilization of stacked arrays of front-opening bins that have short doors for overlying the front openings of short bins adapted to contain small diameter tubular containers of caulk and the like, and longer doors for overlying the front openings of taller bins and/or stacked pairs of bins that are used to contain larger diameter tubular containers of caulk and the like.
2. Prior Art
Stackable display bins of a variety of configurations have been proposed over the years. Some have pivotal doors that are intended to close front wall openings. But few are well suited for displaying large and small diameter cylindrical objects such as tubes of caulk and the like.
Displaying tubes of caulk in a stacked array is complicated by the tendency of the tubes to roll from side to side so as to not remain centered in display bins for easy access. Another complicating factor is the presence on each tube of a stiff and lengthy dispensing nozzle. If bins are made long enough to accommodate the bodies of the tubes and their nozzles, this can cause the bodies of the tubes to be positioned so far back from the fronts of bins as to render the tubes difficult to grasp. If bins are made short enough to accommodate only the bodies of the tubes but not their nozzles, the nozzles are left sticking out of the bins and may catch on the clothes of those who pass by. Moreover, providing display labels that identify the various types and colors of caulk carried in bins that have nozzles projecting therefrom has proven difficult to accomplish.
Yet another problem has been the fact that tubes of caulk typically come in one of two standard sizes. The smaller size features as a relatively small diameter and a relatively short length, and a dozen of these smaller sized tubes can be held in a relatively short, relatively small bin. The larger size has a significantly greater diameter and a longer length which requires a much more sizable storage space to accommodate an equal number of tubes. Until now, storage bins that.are well suited to displaying a good supply of smaller sized caulk tubes have proven to be poorly suited for alternatively displaying a good supply of the larger sized caulk tubes.
The present invention addresses the foregoing and other drawbacks of the prior art by providing stackable bins that are well designed to accommodate both small and large cylindrical articles such as tubes of caulk and the likexe2x80x94bins that are well suited to contain the bodies of tubes of caulk and the like while permitting the nozzles of these tubes to project forwardly from the bins in a guarded manner that prevents their becoming snagged on articles of clothing of those who pass by, and with removable doors being provided that overhang the forwardly projecting nozzles in a way that can support product labeling signs without necessarily preventing potential customers from viewing the tubes that are contained in the bins.
A feature of bins that embody the preferred practice of the present invention resides in providing the bins with U-shaped interiors that tend to prevent tubes of caulk and the like from rolling aboutxe2x80x94interiors that aid in maintaining an orderly display with tubes of caulk and the like aligned in a neat front-to-rear extending arrayxe2x80x94interiors that take advantage of the force of gravity to cause tubes of caulk and the like to occupy centered positions within the bins even as a bin is emptied to contain only a few tubes, or only one remaining tube.
Another feature of bins that embody the preferred practice of the present invention is the ease with which they accommodate cylindrical articles of a variety of sizes, especially the two present-day standard sizes of tubes of caulk and the like. A removable bin divider is provided to diminish the effective length of selected ones of the bins that are to be used to contain and display relatively short cylindrical articles (e.g., the smaller of two present-day standard sizes of tubes of caulk). While a single bin is well suited to contain a goodly number of the smaller of two present-day standard size of tubes of caulk, an array of two stacked bins is well suited to contain a goodly number of the larger of the two present-day standard sizes of tubes of caulk.
So that each bin can be labeled individually as to its contents, a relatively short front door is provided with sign supporting formations. However, if an array of two stacked bins is to be used to contain relatively large tubes of caulk of a particular type, a relatively long door is provided that can be pivotally connected only to the upper of the two stacked bins to overlie the fronts of both of the bins so that customers will understand that both bins contain the product that is specified on a sign attached to the door.
Other features reside in the specific construction and design of the bins that permit the bins to be molded from plastics material as single-piece or unitary structures, and in the construction and design of the long and short doors and the xe2x80x9cextendersxe2x80x9d or supports that connect the doors to fronts of selected bins. While, in preferred practice, the extenders are removably connected to the bins so as to facilitate changing the uses to which selected bins are put, the extenders can be formed integrally with the unitary construction of the bins.
If the extenders are removably connected to the bins, as is preferred, the extenders preferably remain pivotally connected to a particular doorxe2x80x94so that, if a short door is to be substituted for a long door, the long door and the extenders that are pivotally connected to it may be removed as an assembly from the bin and replaced by a short door and the extenders which are pivotally connected to it. Alternatively, headed pins that snap into locked positions when inserted through aligned holes formed in the doors and the extenders to pivotally couple the doors to the extenders can be removed to permit one door to be substituted for another, whereafter the pins are reinstalled.
A feature of preferred practice that assists in assembling and maintaining stacked array of bins (and side-by-side stacked arrays of bins) is the provision on adjacent pairs of stacked bins of projections and openings that are configured to receive the projections in mating relationship. In preferred practice, upwardly extending projections are provided near the upper ends of opposed side walls of the bins, and these upwardly extending projections are received in mating relationship by downwardly facing openings that are defined near the lower ends of the opposed side walls. If mating formations of this type are provided near the rear walls of the bins, the bins preferably are configured to permit thin support brackets to be inserted between the rear end regions of adjacent pairs of the bins. The support brackets have holes through which the upwardly extending projections that are located near the rear end regions of the bins can extend to connect the support brackets to stacked arrays of bins so that the stacked arrays can be connected by the support brackets to an upstanding wall or to some other structure that is located behind the stacked arrays of the bins.